Improving student performance: Embedding your campus library in your online courseware. Poster presented at the eleventh Teaching and Learning with Technology national conference. Lafayette, Indiana.

Abstract

For faculty teaching online classes requiring research assignments, providing appropriate library support becomes a problem. Many students naively turn to freely available internet resources, such as Google, when working on their assignments. But such tools do not always offer the appropriate scholarly information that they require. To assist students with their research, faculty often counsel them to visit the campus library where the librarian will help them navigate a bewildering array of free and proprietary databases. But providing an equivalent level of personal research support to online students can be challenging. Traditional library services to online learners include access to remote databases, online tutorials, and interlibrary loan. But the presence of the librarian as a concerned and caring guide is often missing in online courses. Research suggests that many faculty believe that integrating library resources and services into their online courseware is a burden. This misconception is usually held by those who are unaware of the types of services available to them. In most universities and colleges throughout the United States and the United Kingdom librarians support faculty with their online teaching by relieving time pressures and assisting in publishing and technology issues. These practices go way beyond inserting a link to the library’s homepage on a course management system, but focus instead on creating student-centered, customized online research experiences that improve student performance. At Indiana State University (ISU), librarians assist faculty in building their Blackboard courses. We perform a variety of functions such as creating customized tutorials and guides, participating in online discussion forums, video conferencing, and providing point-of-need research counseling by monitoring discussions and following class assignment schedules. We strive to become an unobtrusive but accessible presence in the online teaching environment. Experience has shown that our faculty see our services as valuable and time saving, while students express appreciation for our assistance. This poster presentation will provide a brief summary of research into library services in distance education paying particular attention to the concept of the embedded library and student performance. Specific examples of how ISU librarians are assisting faculty with their online teaching will be provided. Attendees will walk away with a greater understanding of what their campus library can do to help them build and manage their online courses.